Member Movie Reviews

Belinda S. (niara) from NEW YORK, NY Reviewed on 9/21/2013...

***GENTLE SPOILER AHEAD***

It's always sad to read member reviews on this and other sites because so often so many get it completely wrong.

I loved that Bigelow took her time with this. She wove a brilliant film, born out of a scorching screenplay, that is nuanced, multi-layered and exquisite. No, we don't know that much about Maya but that's the whole point. What did we need to know about her to move the story along? My favorite part was the end, the long, sorrowful look at her face, on that empty, cavernous plane, when the pilot asks her where she wants to go and she has no answer. That should tell you a lot, folks.

And yes, there are a dizzying array of names, places and dates to keep track of. It's kind of a testament to the films of old, that took their time to tell stories and believed that the audience would stay with it and get it.

And yes, it was dark at the end -- we were watching it from the POV of the Navy Seal 6 team wearing their infrared. Of course it would be dark. It added to the tension and the drama. We all knew how it would end so the challenge was to keep us watching.

Jennifer Ehle -- her face was familiar to me but I didn't recognize who she was until watching the credits. This is the same woman who played Elizabeth Bennett in what many feel is the penultimate version of Pride and Prejudice.

I had never seen Jessica Chastain in anything prior to Zero Dark Thirty so her grittiness, her obsessiveness and REALness was nearly mesmerizing. Again, that scene at the end will haunt me, as will the beginning. I live in NYC, and will always remember 9/11. Hearing the voices of what I quickly realized were of those trapped inside the towers cast a pallor on the film that was deliberate, conscious and reminded you starkly of the horror of that day, and the mission of those who took on the call to find and destroy Bin Laden. A captivating film. Bravo, Bigelow.